And They're Off! The Democratic Candidates for 2020

[SimonNZ]

Doesn't "urbane" mean something like "charming in social situations"?

That's not Todd.

[Todd]

You really don't seem to grasp that I was describing a fictional encounter, do you?

The point is not to have it actually happen. The point is that it highlights the complete absurdity of you using terms like "intellectual" and "urbane" and "learned" as insults in the direction of others. As if you yourself are not in those categories.

Mate, you're as fucking urbane as they come.

Oh, no, you misunderstand.  I am quite in awe of the immense intellectual prowess displayed day in and day out on this very forum.  The intricate knowledge of US law demonstrated by, of all people, non-Americans is most impressive.  The preternatural grasp of US politics by the same group is truly astounding, and the mastery of US politics by the native born posters is literally DC grade.  Better, even.  It is to this forum that I turn when I want an honest, objective take on the happenings of the day.  If I do not grasp the fine nuances of your imposing, lawyerly use of language, it is only because I cannot.

Doesn't "urbane" mean something like "charming in social situations"?

That's not Todd.

Now I know you confuse the internet for real life.  Truth to tell, I figured you did.

[Daverz]

Doesn't "urbane" mean something like "charming in social situations"?

That's not Todd.

Todd is ex-urbane, somewhere outside Seattle IIRC.

[Todd]

Todd is ex-urbane, somewhere outside Seattle IIRC.

Incorrect.  OK, technically, most of the world is outside Seattle, but you're still wrong.

[Madiel]

Oh, no, you misunderstand.  I am quite in awe of the immense intellectual prowess displayed day in and day out on this very forum.  The intricate knowledge of US law demonstrated by, of all people, non-Americans is most impressive.  The preternatural grasp of US politics by the same group is truly astounding, and the mastery of US politics by the native born posters is literally DC grade.  Better, even.  It is to this forum that I turn when I want an honest, objective take on the happenings of the day.  If I do not grasp the fine nuances of your imposing, lawyerly use of language, it is only because I cannot.

Nice sarcasm. Bit intellectual of you though.

[Daverz]

Incorrect.  OK, technically, most of the world is outside Seattle, but you're still wrong.

OK, don't know where I got that impression.

[SimonNZ]

Now I know you confuse the internet for real life.  Truth to tell, I figured you did.

You're saying you're not really a dick, you just play one on the internet?

No, I think you'd have no inclination to be an online dick if you weren't already a dick in the offline world.

[Madiel]

Todd is ex-urbane, somewhere outside Seattle IIRC.

Think it's either Oregon or the part of Washington just across from Oregon.

They let the weirdos roam free in Portland, but they kicked Todd out.

[Todd]

You're saying you're not really a dick, you just play one on the internet?

No, I think you'd have no inclination to be an online dick if you weren't already a dick in the offline world.

Think it's either Oregon or the part of Washington just across from Oregon.

They let the weirdos roam free in Portland, but they kicked Todd out.

Yep, this is good stuff.  Big Brains is sooper smart.

[Madiel]

Yep, this is good stuff.  Big Brains is sooper smart.

Ooh look, he misspelled "super" so he could pretend he's not one of us. Isn't that sweet.

[Todd]

...he's not one of us...

You win the internet today.

[71 dB]

They let the weirdos roam free in Portland, but they kicked Todd out.

   

[Todd]

I wonder how SimonNZ will respond to someone using only emojis in this instance?

[Madiel]

You win the internet today.

Selective quoting, Todd. You left out the word "pretend". You pretend to be different.

You're a smug intellectual, Todd. In fact you're one of the more intellectual posters on the forum. Which I might respect if it wasn't for the way you yourself use "intellectual" as an insult.

You're a smug intellectual. And after you've finished telling the forum, in a grand act of either disingenuousness or self-delusion, just how much more in touch with the concerns of the average American you are, you'll wander off to find out about the latest classical piano recordings released in Japan.

[SimonNZ]

I wonder how SimonNZ will respond to someone using only emojis in this instance?

Depends on if I think they're trolling.

I wonder if Todd thinks that post he edited a few back is evidence of an over hasty knee jerk reaction with shaking hands?

[Todd]

Selective quoting, Todd. You left out the word "pretend". You pretend to be different.

You're a smug intellectual, Todd. In fact you're one of the more intellectual posters on the forum. Which I might respect if it wasn't for the way you yourself use "intellectual" as an insult.

You're a smug intellectual. And after you've finished telling the forum, in a grand act of either disingenuousness or self-delusion, just how much more in touch with the concerns of the average American you are, you'll wander off to find out about the latest classical piano recordings released in Japan.

I have never, not even once, claimed to be in touch with whatever a supposedly average American cares about.  Feel free to quote a post where I made such an assertion. 

I am also not an intellectual.  Not even close. 

Depends on if I think they're trolling.

So, you're unprincipled.  (I knew that already.)

I wonder if Todd thinks that post he edited a few back is evidence of an over hasty knee jerk reaction with shaking hands?

Good to know that gets your goat.  (Of course, you fuck up posts with fewer than ten words and include your responses inside quotes and other easy tells of knee-jerkism on a routine basis.)

[JBS]

So, you're unprincipled.  (I knew that already.)

Despising trolls is a principle.

[Madiel]

I have never, not even once, claimed to be in touch with whatever a supposedly average American cares about.  Feel free to quote a post where I made such an assertion. 

Oh I see. So your whole role here is simply to make fun of other people for not being in touch with these things. You don't actually have anything of your own to contribute, do you?

You're just here to be an absolute wanker towards other people for daring to contribute their own thoughts, and to point out their perceived flaws which are in fact uncannily like your own, except that some of us have the extra sin of being from another country.

Which, by the way, probably gives you as an American a completely false impression about the extent of our knowledge of America. Just because America is famously insular and is big enough to not bother with news from elsewhere, you imagine that the rest of the world is like that too?

As for not being an intellectual yourself... so it's self-delusion then rather than disingenuousness. You honestly believe that scouring East Asia for new classical recordings is a perfectly typical form of behaviour for the average man.

[Todd]

You don't actually have anything of your own to contribute, do you?

Not really, and I know the significance of what I post.  Others here obviously don't, especially ignorant non-Americans.

Which, by the way, probably gives you as an American a completely false impression about the extent of our knowledge of America. Just because America is famously insular and is big enough to not bother with news from elsewhere, you imagine that the rest of the world is like that too?

In other words, I am very clearly not an intellectual.  Thank you.

You honestly believe that scouring East Asia for new classical recordings is a perfectly typical form of behaviour for the average man.

You'd have to point out where I ever made such an assertion.

Despising trolls is a principle.

One thing is for certain, words assume flexible definitions on GMG.

[dissily Mordentroge]

Fair enough. But you're not the one whose apparent main goal on the thread is to make fun of intellectuals. That's Todd.

'Intellectuals' covers a multitude of sins one of which is imagining there's ever been much agreement as to what constitutes being one. Given my encounters with members of Mensa I suggest their particular definition is no more than self serving delusion. Then we have that eccentric, and at times downright dangerous, layer of academia who specialise in interacting ( if that's what it is) with the world through torturous piles of over tossed word salad signifying little if anything. The French deconstructionists come to mind.

Isn't it wonderful a body such as Democratic candidates can trigger such arcane and probably pointless speculation?
We are a peculiar species.